Absolution
by Pen Name FTW
Summary: Leah wanted nothing more than to Imprint, but she refuses to accept it when she imprints on the enemy. Will she be able to fight the imprint? Or will the process break more than one heart? Leah/Carlisle, with some Leah/Embry. Mentions of past Leah/Sam. Inspired by Muse's album 'Absolution'. Somewhat AU.
1. Apocalypse Please

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Twilight, if I did, Vampires would not sparkle and Bella would get a personality transplant. This story is also inspired wholly by songs from the album _Absolution_ by Muse. I'm also entering this into "The If You Dare Challenge" on HPFC.

**A/n:** Story is AU and begins in it has been years since I read the books and since I haven't watched any of the movies, there might be quite a few differences, apart from the ones I made for the plot. Also, in this story vampires DON'T sparkle.

**Prompt: **My Worst Nightmare (#101)

* * *

"_Declare this an emergency  
Come on and spread a sense of urgency  
And pull us through, and pull us through  
And this is the end, yeah, this is the end of the world."_

_-Muse, Apocalypse Please_

* * *

Every wolf became quiet and still where they'd stood, lined up, watching the Cullens. The air became tense, as the Cullens noted the sudden change that came over the shape-shifters.

This wasn't supposed to happen. It seemed impossible. And yet, there it was.

Leah Clearwater, the first female shifter in their entire history, had imprinted on a leech. And not just any leech, it had to be on papa leech. Who was _married_.

Leah was aware of this fact, seconds after the imprint occurred, once she'd come too from the daze that would have left her on her knees if she'd been in her human form. As it was, her wolf had merely stepped out of line, stepping ever closer to her imprint, needing the proximity as she moved in a daze, barely aware of the sudden growls that erupted behind her.

Regaining some semblance of her bitter self back, Leah felt her heart fill with self-loathing as she glared at the man whom her universe now revolved around as her head erupted in a stream of slur directed at her... at the leech... at the entire situation. Only one wolf whined in sympathy for what had just occurred.

Turning her head around, Leah took off towards the forrest and to her relief, Sam (who had been her whole world only moments ago, and whom the very thought of filled her with pain) let her go, his mind curiously blank.

It didn't take very long for Leah to get far from the clearing where their midnight trainings took place. Phasing out, so that she wouldn't have to hear the ridicule of her pack, proved to be of some difficult as her heart continued to beat and plead with her to return to the clearing, to return to him. But in the end, Leah's will won that battle against her heart.

Mechanically tugging on her cut-off jean shorts, and a black t-shirt, she picked her way barefoot towards home, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

But there wasn't any sense to it. Just as their was no sense to her becoming the first female shifter. Just as the death of her father made no sense. Nor Sam imprinting on her cousin and best friend.

This was just the universe, giving Leah just another 'fuck you' as thank-you-for-your-service.

As if she really needed another reason for the pack and her tribe to hate her. As if she needed another reason to hate herself.

If anyone thought that she was happy in becoming La Push's biggest bitch, both literally and figuratively, they were wrong. But it was the only way Leah knew how to survive. The only way she knew how to mask all the hurt and grief she felt. And that no one understood that, or even cared to try to understand that, hurt more.

While she'd always had a temper, and been a girl that no one would dare cross, she'd been La Push's crowned princess. Everyone used to love her. She'd been considered feisty, sassy and beautiful. She'd been all the little boy's dream girl.

Now, she was just a freak. A genetic dead end. She was the bitter bitch of La Push. And now, she was a traitor to her pack and people, because she'd imprinted on the enemy.

Leah didn't understand why life had to be so cruel to her. Was it because for the first seventeen or so years of her life, she'd been resplendently happy? Because her life had been so blessed? Did she have to pay some sort of balance for so much happiness by living countless years of misery now?

For months, her life had seemed nothing but misery. She'd thought that imprinting might provide her with some relief, maybe then she wouldn't have to be so tortured by her memories of Sam, or by witnessing as he moved on with her cousin... a girl she'd loved better than a sister.

Her feet were carrying her home. Tears were trekking down her cheek, but she barely noticed them. Unwanted thoughts came to her mind as she recalled his face, his scent.

He was absolutely, devastatingly beautiful... she had to give him that. With his golden hair, and golden eyes, his perfectly sculpted features, his tall stature and built physique... he was absolute perfection. And unlike the rest of the leeches, he didn't stink of sweetness, and death. Instead he smelled of lavender and chamomile, and fresh linen. It was an enchanting scent, and Leah had wanted nothing more than to burry her muzzle in his middle and just breathe him in.

Wiping furiously at her cheeks, she shoved away her thoughts angrily.

She was _not_ going to give in. Imprint or not, she would fight it with every bit of her strength of will, a force to be reckoned with.

**XxX**

"I thought I would find you here," his voice was deep... it came from deep within his chest and she knew it made it vibrate. She knew because she'd laid her head there so many times, and listened to the beat of his heart, trying to memorize it.

Leah didn't turn to look at him as she continued to stare out at the waters, painted midnight blue and reflecting the sky. Her right leg hung over the edge of the cliff while the other was propped up so that she could hug her left knee. Distantly, she noted that all she felt at his presence was a dull sort of pain, like a faint echo. For a moment, she closed her eyes and marveled at it the way she marveled at her wounds as they healed before her eyes due to her accelerated healing now as a werewolf. She'd often wondered why it was that _that_ oh-so-special power didn't help wounds of the soul.

"You should go to sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," he told her.

The dawn would soon be approaching. Leah could already see hints of it as the sky started to become cobalt blue.

"Is that an order, oh mighty alpha?" Leah asked, though there was no real bite in her tone. In truth, she was too emotionally weary to be angry, bitter or resentful.

Sam didn't respond as he merely plopped down beside her. The fact that Leah made no objection only made him worry more, though a part of him was happy to be allowed so close to her. That she would left him.

For a while, they both sat in silence, merely staring at the quiet and dark scenery before them. The waves pressing against the beach and the rocks below somehow providing the serene soundtrack that seemed to soothe their spirits. On the eve of battle as they were, it seemed so strange that such peace could exist anywhere in the world.

"I'm going to ask the elders to amend the treaty so your imprint can enter the reservation," Sam stated suddenly, breaking the silence.

Leah furrowed her brow, the statement causing her to look at Sam for the first time. "Why?"

"As much as I don't like it, he's your imprint. You need him in your life-" Sam stated before trailing off, unsure what else to say as Leah continued to stare at him with an inscrutable expression on her beautiful face, that was so pretty that it made his heart ache so much that he had to turn away.

For a while longer, Leah stared at the face of her ex, the man she'd loved for years and almost above everything else.

Sam was doing this for her. She knew it, without him having to implicitly say it. As difficult as this might be for him, as much as he disliked it, as much trouble as it would cost him... he was doing it all for her. So she could have some semblance of happiness.

He throat constrict as she stared at him, forcing her to look away. The man used to be her best friends, her lover, her everything... and for the first time, she could remember why she had loved him so completely. When before it tortured her to remember all their happy moments, and she had focused on the things about him that irritated her the most, this was the first time she allowed herself to recognize those things he did that made her love him.

"That isn't necessary," Leah stated, clearing her throat.

"Why?" Sam asked, confused, but still unable to look at her.

"Because I'm going to fight it... I'm not a home-wrecker," Leah replied in a hard and steely tone while Sam turned to look at her with a sympathetic look.

"You can't fight it Lee-lee... I know, because I tried," the '_and I failed_' was left unsaid.

Leah could feel her hear pulse with pain, but could ignore it as easily as one does a pesky little fly. When once that statement would send her into a blinding kind of fury, that had her snarly and snapping her sharp teeth, now she felt almost nothing but a vague kind of disdain.

"Yeah well, you're not me," Leah replied simply, getting to her feet and walking away. _And who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll die and this whole point is moot, _Leah thought grimly as she lost herself within the tree line, each of her steps weighed down beneath the strain of her imprint.

**TBC...**

**Remember to Review! **


	2. Asphyxiated

**A/n: **Thank you to everyone who took the time to review the last chapter. :) I'm glad that this story was received soooo well! And I'm extremely psyched about the positive response so I tried to get this written and up sooner than I planned.

Umm... I thought I should mention or rather, warn everyone reading this that this story will deal with adultery and as such, if you take a real issue with that than I don't really suggest you continue reading this fic.

Also I was wondering, should I leave this story rated T? Or change it to rated M? Considering this story will deal with adultery and perhaps a "friends with benefit" situation, I feel that the M rating may be more appropriate. Also I imagine Leah having a rather colorful vocabulary. Tell me what you think?

**Prompt:** Skirmish (#147)

* * *

"_I think I'm drowning, asphyxiated.  
I wanna break this spell  
That you've created."_

_-Muse, Time Is Running Out_

* * *

The battle was over. And, much to her chagrin, Leah survived without a scratch. Well, perhaps there had been some scratches and lumps, but with her rapid healing powers, they were all gone already.

Surveying the clearing, taking a mental headcount and checking through the pack mind that Seth was his usual, annoyingly happy (and very much alive) self, Leah allowed herself a moment relax. Her gaze, very much against her will and rather subconsciously, found _him_.

She knew he'd survived. In fact, he was the first person she'd searched for (and had unconsciously moved closes to, though there was still twenty or so feet between them) and she berated herself for not seeking Seth's mind first.

She hated this imprinting crap! It wasn't natural that she should first check for someone who was practically a stranger to her, before her own baby brother! Damn fucking imprint!

Her heart seemed to shred as she watched him with his arms wrapped around his wife, his hands cradling her face, his golden eyes searching her form for any visible signs of distress on her perfect body. They were wrapped in their own little love bubble, cut off from the rest of the clearing and it hurt Leah to watch.

A whine started in her chest, threatening to tear through her lips as she continued to watch them. Leah painfully shut off her throat to cut off the sound before it could progress and bubble to the surface. She was about to rip her gaze away, unable to continue watching because it was so masochistic, when something moved beyond the happy couple.

Leah felt her body react before her mind truly registered what she was seeing. A snarl ripped from her throat as she leaped over the happy and oblivious couple and attacked the New Born that had been previously hidden by underbrush and had been preparing to attack, though whether it wanted her imprint or his wife, Leah was uncertain.

It didn't really matter. This was what she was bred to do, and the fact that he was threateningly close to her imprint only made matters for the New Born leech even worse.

She clashed head on with the leech, a mistake to be certain but she hadn't expected him to be so weak. She barely managed to tackle him before he was already maneuvered around her, his arms locking around her middle and squeezing. Leah barely had time to think that this was the absolute worse possible position to be in when she felt a blinding sort of pain as the leech squeezed its arms and caved in her ribcage.

A sharp whine ripped the air as blinding pain coursed through her. She was having difficulty thinking, much less breathing, around the pain she felt.

And then just as suddenly, she felt herself released from the steel-like, cold arms wrapped tightly around her chest. She felt her body collapsed to the ground. She was human before her head touched the ground and she grit her teeth against the pain.

Spots of blackness clouded her vision as she attempted to curl on her side. Her lugs were burning. Her breath came out in incomplete wheezes as she struggled to fill her lungs with much needed air. And all through it, she could fee a piercing kind of pain beneath her breasts.

"Leah!" she heard Sam's voice as she struggled to keep her eyes open. However, it was a losing battle and Leah wasn't even sure why she was fighting it. It would be better if she lost consciousness. Then at least, she'd be free of the pain and with that in mind, she let go and let the blackness take over.

**XxX**

The scent that permeated the house was severely offensive to their sensitive noses. Rosalie couldn't help herself commenting on it as himself and Rosalie were given special permission to cross the treaty line and meet the shifter's at the Clearwater house. It wasn't difficult to find the property, even though they'd clearly never been there before; all they had to do was follow the scent of the wolves' freshest trail.

The smell would have been suffocating, if they had to breathe. Luckily being vampires, breathing was rather unnecessary as they set to work, trying to help the female shifter as she continued to lay in her bed unconscious.

The majority the wolf pack was loitering downstairs in the living room, or had stepped outside, unable to stand Leah's wails of pain when he and Rosalie had to reset her bones and she briefly awoke. All except for the Alpha, who stood just beyond the door, his pacing reaching Carlisle's sensitive ears.

Her eyes were coffee brown and locked on him in their anguish as she set her teeth. Coffee brown, a boring color truly, but there was something about her eyes, not merely their shape, but their expression that made them unique... that made them somehow breathtaking and Carlisle hadn't been able to help inhaling sharply.

It was only then, noticing rather belatedly because he hadn't been breathing, that he noticed her scent. She smelled different than the other wolves, who smelled strongly of wet dog and musk.

Leah somehow smelled of dewy forest, lilies and something that was warm and earthy. It was a scent that he found both enchanting and comforting, and he wasn't really certain why. The thought, however brief and fleeting somewhere lost amongst the millions of other concerns coursing through his mind, that he could never get enough of that scent, caught him rather unawares.

Guilt consumed him as it had when he had first noted that she had a fine figure, and an impeccable bone structure. He shouldn't be contemplating about the color of her beautiful eyes, or about her lovely scent that differentiated her from her pack brothers. He shouldn't feel his dead heart, clawing at his chest in an attempt to reach her.

Instead he shoved all these things away, telling himself that it was nothing more than his immense compassion he held for all of humanity. Told himself the only reason he felt so intensely for this poor girl was because she had endangered her own life, to save Esme and himself.

"I'm sorry about the pain but your body seems to metabolize the morphine too quickly," Carlisle apologized to her once he was finished resetting her bones and Rosalie backed away from strapping her down, readying the bandages. "Your ribs were broken, but they are already beginning to reset. Rosalie is going to help you sit up, so that I can bandage your ribs."

It was her intelligent eyes that told him that despite her pain, she was capable of understanding him as she stared solely into his eyes, her intense gaze almost cowing him. However, at the mention of Rosalie, her eyes darted to the blonde female and her body seemed to jerk away.

"Maybe it would be better if you just held her," Rosalie gritted lowly, her hiss barely audible but for the fact that everyone in the room had super-sensitive hearing.

Everyone knew of the imprint, though the wolves hadn't bothered to explain what that actually meant. After Leah took off, Carlisle had feared that their training sessions were going to dissolve into a battle of their own as the wolves became increasingly agitated for reasons that we not known to him and his family.

"_Edward, what's going on?" Carlisle asked, his body tense with agitation as he remained motionless, staring at the line of wolves before him, still bewildered at the actions of the small, slender grey wolf that had suddenly appeared before him, before turning and taking off at a run._

"_The female... Leah I think... she imprinted on you," Edward replied quietly, his tone giving away the confusion he felt as he continued to try to make sense of the cacophony of thoughts he was hearing. _

"_Imprinted? What is that?" Esme asked from Carlisle's left. _

"_I'm not certain. It appears to be some kind of devotion at first sight, when a wolf looks into the eyes of the one meant to be their imprint. The wolves seem to be upset that she would imprint on someone of... our kind," Edward explained, his tone darkening near the end. However, further discussion came to a screeching halt as suddenly, the wolves quieted and with withering glared sent in their direction, each left one by one._

_The last to remain was the large black wolf, the Alpha. His eyes remained trained on Carlisle, seemingly staring him down. _

"_He says that the training sessions are over, and that we will meet again tomorrow for the battle," Edward translated as the large wolf finally turned and took off towards the forrest. _

The hot hands suddenly latching onto his hands, drew his gaze away from Rosalie and his though, shocked by the intensely hot feel of her hands against his icy cold ones. The burn of her skin was so intense, that Carlisle wanted to withdraw his hands at the pain they caused... like fire licking at his skin. However, he was incapable of doing so, even without looking at the almost pleading expression that took over the proud, beautiful face. And he found as he continued to merely cope with the pain, that his skin seemed to steadily become used to it until finally all he felt as a warmth unlike any he'd felt since becoming a vampire.

"Would you prefer it if I held you?" he asked the young woman, who merely nodded her head, though her face seemed to look shamed for a moment; as if she dreaded being so weak or appearing so weak. "I will try to be as gentle as possible," he promised, giving her a small and comforting smile.

Gently removing his hands from hers, an act that evoked a strong sense of loss in him that he felt his stomach churn violently with guilt. Ignoring all his sensations and merely focusing on what he must do, he moved to sit on the bed and with great care, leaned his upper body over the girl and took her in his arms before sitting upright with Leah in his arms.

A whimper of pain seemed to leave her mouth before she set her teeth, and he felt a shiver course through her body as he held her firmly but gently. "I'm sorry I'm so cold," he apologized quietly and almost bashfully as he held her in his arms, much the way he would a dance partner, his frame holder hers up so that she would not put too much pressure on her healing ribs.

Both her hands rested on his shoulder, the length of her arms brushed lightly against the length of his as he held her with his own hands settled beneath her shoulder blades. Leah didn't offer a response, her hands instead merely clutched tighter at the material of his pale blue sweater.

Carlisle wasn't sure what it was. He didn't know if it was the head that radiated from her body and managed to actually warm his bitterly cold one, even through layers of clothes. If it was how fragile and beautiful her body felt, framed by his own larger body. Or if it was at the way her hands clutched at his shoulders... so tightly and almost possessively, that he felt a purr beginning in his chest. He felt his eyes darkening as a sentiment he was unfamiliar with blossomed in his abdomen. It was a strong desire to protect, to claim... to posses.

He knew he would be blushing if he could, as he caught the sound of the purr before it managed to vibrate and rouse Rosalie as she quickly set to work at binding Leah's abdomen.

He tried desperately to shove these feelings away, and hide them away somewhere where he'd never have to feel them again. But it didn't help matters that Leah's clutch tightened. That her head was suddenly so much closer to his own, and that he could feel her deep inhalations and exhalations so close to his jaw and neck.

He needed to get away. This room was too small, and Rosalie's combined, resentful presence with that of the girl-wolf in his arms was making him all the more uncomfortable. As if she was bearing witness to his sins against Esme, against the young Quileute girl in his arms.

_Where did all this come from?_ He wondered despairingly to himself as he tried to distance himself mentally from his body and the girl he held. He couldn't recall the last time he was even remotely interested in another woman since Esme had come into his life. And even then, he sentiments had been far more innocent than this dark temptation.

"Done," Rosalie stated after clearing her throat, snapping Carlisle from his thoughts.

"Thank you, Rose," Carlisle smiled tightly before gently maneuvering Leah so that she was once more laying down, trying desperately to remove himself from her as soon as he could.

Once she was laid comfortably and he could withdraw without jostling her, Carlisle retreated as far from the bed as the small room would allow. "I'm uncertain as to how quickly your ribs will heal, due to your wolf genes and pack's ability to heal so quickly. I will leave your mother with a prescription for pain meds, but apart from that I merely prescribe rest. I wouldn't suggest phasing? Or any other physical activity for at least a week. If you have any problems, feel free to call."

With that, he pulled a card from his trouser's and set it on her bedside table before smiling at her while Rosalie gathered his medical bag and exited the room, without a word to the female wolf whose eyes hadn't left Carlisle for a moment, her face fixed into a stoic and blank expression. "I can't thank you enough for what you did," he stated sincerely, his nervousness abating enough to give her a grateful expression, his golden eyes shining with his heartfelt gratitude.

Smiling at her one last time, Carlisle bid her good bye, wondering why it was so difficult to drag his feet away form her. Why every step away from her felt like his lungs, which didn't need to function, were burning.

**TBC...**

**Review! Sorry if I missed any typos!**


	3. Twisting Around

**A/n: **I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to review! You guys have been wonderful! I'm really sorry I've taken so long to update!

**Warning: **I'm going to say this chapter is rated M for language and adult themes.

**Prompt:** Night Fever (#20)

* * *

"_It's bugging me, grating me  
And twisting me around  
Yeah I'm endlessly, caving in  
And turning inside out." _

_-Muse, Hysteria_

* * *

It took a little less than a week for her ribs to heal, but it was torture to remain in bed with nothing to do and having to grit her teeth through kindly meant visits. She could feel the imprint, constantly, like a large hook through her heart, constantly tugging. Not simply constantly, but viciously and the longer she tried to ignore it, the more intense it felt so that she lay curled up, writhing more from the pain of the imprint bond, than her healing ribs.

Today was the first day her mother let her get out of the bed, and she was allowed to attend the bonfire. It was a pseudo celebration that none of them had died during the battle with the new-borns. Apparently the pack had merely been waiting for Leah to heal to throw it.

Leah almost felt touched... though she knew that in all likelihood, the only people who cared about her attendance were Seth and Sam. And Sam was the only one with the power to delay the bonfire, what with being Alpha and all.

Standing, staring into the fire, flipping the fancy white card in her fingertips, Leah admitted that Sam did that a lot; took her sentiments into consideration, as much as a twenty-year old male could. Though she supposed that Sam was usually, for a man, mature for his age. Unfortunately that usually meant he didn't have much of a sense of humor.

In the past, when she'd newly started phasing, she focused solely on Sam bossing her around and how much she loathed it, that she couldn't see that he often played favorite with her and attempted to make things easier for her. In fact in the beginning, he tried to give her space to mourn by assigning her virtually no patrol duties, something that Leah resented and opposed. But even when he gave in and gave her assigned patrols, he didn't give her as much shit as the guys when she skipped one.

Tearing her gaze away from the fire, her eyes sought out the male that was so often on her mind. As she spotted him with Emily, her heart gave a familiar twinge, but it was nowhere near as intense as it used to be. And she found that Emily practically became a non-entity to her.

_And here I thought imprinting would free me of thinking of him, _Leah thought as she watched how utterly in love Sam and Emily were, wishing that could be her. While the imprint had dulled her feelings of hurt and love towards Sam, and made her think less often of him, the feelings hadn't disappeared as she expected them to. And Sam was still one her mind, more often than she would have expected.

He was simply... not as important anymore. Not by comparison to... _her imprint_.

She supposed she really couldn't give Sam shit for telling her so often that he still _loved her, _but simply_ loved _and_ needed _Emily_ more_. She supposed that without imprinting, there was simply no way that one could understand having their heart somewhat wrenched by two separate people.

She had a feeling that, imprint and all, she'd never stopped loving Sam. She simply didn't need him. She could live without him.

Tearing her gaze away, she stared down at the card in her hands. It was _his_ business card, all in white with Dr. Carlisle Cullen written in clear, block script in black ink that was raised off the smooth paper. It had his work phone number, his pager number and even his cell phone number. Leah had looked at it enough times that she had all the numbers memorized though she didn't want to have them memorized.

She absolutely had no intention of contacting him. She was resolute about fighting the imprint.

And yet, she couldn't stop thinking about him. Couldn't stop looking at that stupid card.

"Hey Leah."

The voice startled her out of her thoughts, causing her head to snap to her right. Raising a brow, she stared at Embry Call as he stood next to her, staring at her with his warm brown eyes and a shy smile on his handsome face.

For a moment, she merely stared at the younger boy, taking the moment to get over her annoyance about being approached while lost in her thoughts about him. As if by their mere presence, they'd know who she was thinking of, making her feel weak and vulnerable.

"Hey Embry," she replied, trying desperately to let go of all her emotions. She didn't want to continue being a bitch, at least not to Embry.

Embry... who was always polite and nice to Leah, even when she rubbed it in his face that he was a bastard. Embry, who had the biggest crush on Leah, and everyone in the pack knew about it. Though he never once tried to put the moves on her, and his thoughts towards her were always modest and respectful, which was more than could be said for the rest of the guys, even if they did treat her like crap.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. You know, since you were injured," Embry said in quiet tones, causing Leah to continue to merely stare at him.

It never really made sense to Leah that Embry would be a wolf, and not simply because they hadn't known he was part Quileute. Embry was simply... too nice a guy, too even-tempered and calm. Though, she supposed, it didn't make much sense that Seth would be a wolf either, as he was too much of a happy-go-lucky kid.

"I'm fine," Leah replied shortly, causing Embry to flush and shift his large bulk around. "Thanks for asking," she stated as an afterthought, thinking about how thoughtful it was of him to ask, and not wishing to make him feel too stupid for asking or even trying.

Embry's brown eyes widened in shock, before a pleased and shy smile spread across his face and averted his eyes. "It's nothing," he said with an easy shrug of his shoulders.

Turning away from the boy, thinking they were done, Leah turned back to contemplate the business card still in her hands. She could see the fire burning in her periphery as she took a deep and steadying breath. If she could only let go of it, she felt she might be able to breathe... would have a chance of being free.

"What's that?" Embry's voice called softly as he took tentative steps towards her, as though wishing to look over her shoulder and to what she was looking at.

"Nothing," Leah replied, tossing it into the fire and watching as it was quickly consumed by the flames, taking a deep and shuddering breath as her heart pulsed painfully.

**XxX**

Leah wasn't sure how far gone she was as she fell on her ass on the beach, laughing. She wasn't even sure what she was laughing about as she grabbed Embry by the back of his shirt and yanked him so that he was tripping over her legs and sprawled on his back, while her left hand held a bottle of moonshine.

Truthfully, the moonshine almost tasted like gasoline; it was such a high concentration of alcohol, that she was sure her taste buds were being rendered useless. But it was the only thing that made her even slightly buzzed anymore, thanks to her wolf genes. They simply burned through any foreign substance far too quickly.

"No, really! You're so lucky you haven't imprinted, Embry," Leah giggled as Embry managed to get off his back so that he was sitting up, before scooting over so that he was seated next to her.

"I thought you wanted to imprint?" Embry wondered, though he felt like an idiot afterward. While he was aware of Leah's desire to imprint, he was sure imprinting on a vampire hadn't been what she'd meant when she'd said she'd like to imprint on _anyone_.

Leah merely smiled before raising her hand and shoving at his head. It almost made him think that he was seeing the _real_ Leah again. The one she was before any of this wolf-shit happened... the way she was when she and Sam were together and _happy_. The girl with the hundred-watt smile that made all the boys of La Push drool. The girl that every boy dreamed about because while she was gorgeous, she also had a great sense of humor and a kick-ass attitude. And while she could be a bitch, she wasn't one of those fake, high-maintenance bitches.

"I thought it would make things easier... make all the heartache go away. But I was soooo wrong, but then again of course I was! I'm Leah fucking Clearwarter, freak of nature extraordinaire!" Leah cheered, falling on her back and staring at the stars that glittered overhead. She smiled blissfully. "Wow Embry, look at that! It's actually a clear night!"

Embry tilted his head up to look at what she was talking about.

"Yeah they're-" a yelp came from his mouth as he found himself suddenly laying on his back beside Leah, as she yanked him down. If that wasn't enough to startled him, he suddenly found Leah making herself quite at home on his shoulder.

"You're so nice, you know that?!" Leah asked, poking him in the ribs, before resting her hand on his flat stomach. "And you have such a nice smile, has anyone ever told you that? Now why couldn't I imprint on a nice, hot boy like you?"

Embry felt his already warm skin, heating further. It didn't help matters that Leah was teasingly skating her fingers across his taut abdomen. When her fingers started caressing his abdomen beneath his t-shirt, making his body shudder with pleasure, he was even further flustered.

"I t-t-think you've had enough m-m-moonshine," Embry stuttered out, reaching for her hand to make her stop even though every male part of him told him to stop being such a pussy, even as his eyes tried to roll back into his head.

"I'm a fucking wolf Embry," she stated in husky tones as she raised on her elbow, so she could lean close to his ear. "I'm barely buzzed and I know just what I'm doing," she stated, nipping suddenly at his earlobe, causing another shudder to rack his body. "Do you?" she asked, licking up the artery at his neck, her voice challenging him, ignoring the way the image of Carlisle popped in her head and the way her heart seemed to whine at her to stop what she was doing.

Embry wasn't sure what it was. If it was the tone of her voice, the fact that this was the girl he'd been dreaming about since he was twelve, or if it was the fact that his dick was so impossibly hard, but he could feel the wolf in him stir. Growling, he quickly flipped them over, so that his body was half on top of Leah and he was staring deep into her eyes.

"Are you sure you-" he started to ask, his brow furrowing as he briefly regained control of his faculties as he stared into Leah's familiar face; knowing he'd never want to hurt her. Leah had already been hurt enough.

"Does that answer your question?" Leah asked as she lowered herself once more after planting an ardent kiss on his lips, leaving him feeling intoxicated.

Embry nodded his head as he dipped it once more to resume their kiss, one of his hands settling at her hips, ignoring the warning in his heart that told him that this was going to end very badly for him. However, Embry brushed this all away, thinking it would be worth it if he could have her in his arms at least once.

**XxX**

Sex made the alcohol burn out of her system at a faster rate, but at the time Leah didn't care. It was strange, the fact that Embry could actually push all the right buttons and raised her to the heavens. The sensation of her heart being torn to shreds even as her body continued to build that exquisite nirvana that was an orgasm, was stranger still.

A part of her loathed herself, even as she continued to ignore the imprint bond, that was strained so tightly around her that it was almost as though she was pushing it to break. And yet, it never broke. Not the first, second or even fifth round. And every time the bond seemed to grow stronger, Leah merely continued to pull back.

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon when Leah finally pulled on her clothes.

"I'll walk you home," Embry offered as he was buttoning his cut-off shorts.

"No!" Leah snapped, startling both Embry and herself. Shaking her head, she gathered her shoes in her hands. "I'm sorry, it's really nice of you but... that's not necessary."

The look on Embry's face as he nodded in response before pulling on his shirt, tugged on her heart-strings, which already felt like they'd been pounded into the ground and were bruised black and blue. Walking towards him, even though every step towards him felt like she was dragging her feet through wet cement because of the weight of the imprint. She put her feet on either side of his knees and dropped into his lap.

Embry looked at her in surprise, as he suddenly found a lap-full of Leah. Gentle hands cupped his face, forcing him to stare at the gentle, yet pained expression on Leah's face.

"I'm trying to fight this imprint Embry, and I'm sorry if by doing so I hurt you. But... you shouldn't fall for me Embry, because I know what it's like to wish for an imprint to get over a broken-heart, and it doesn't quite work that way," Leah stated, opening up more to him than she'd opened up to anyone since Sam broke up with her, because she felt he deserved it.

She planted a chaste kiss on his soft, but bruised lips before getting up once more and beginning to walk away before pausing. "And Embry? If you tell the other guys about this... I'll kick your ass."

Though she was threatening him, Embry couldn't help smiling. It was simply so quintessentially Leah, both old, happy Leah and the New Leah.

"Wouldn't dream of telling anyone," Embry replied, to which Leah offered one lopsided smile before turning and running down the beach.

**TBC...**

**Review!**


	4. Crumbling Away

**A/n: **Special thanks to _Inosolan_, _Ice Moon 14_ and _brankel1_ for always reviewing. You guys rock!

**Prompt:** Suffered (#122)

* * *

"_And I'll feel my world crumbling,  
I'll feel my life crumbling  
I'll feel my soul crumbling away  
And falling away, falling away with you."_

_-Muse, Falling Away With You_

* * *

If the first week without her imprint had her twisting and crawling within her own skin, writhing in pain and fighting to free herself of the imprint, than the second week was absolute torture. Leah tried, to be up and about, to go on with life as if everything was normal, but it was impossible. The pain was too all-consuming, constantly burning under her skin and never giving her a moment's rest.

She couldn't eat... everything tasted like ashes in her mouth and her stomach couldn't seem to keep anything down. She couldn't sleep, even if the exhaustion threatened to put her in a coma, her eyes would simply not remain shut.

Finally it got to the point that she could no longer even leave her bed. And yet, Leah still refused to give in. She stubbornly grit her teeth and held her sides as if that would keep her all together. Keep her from pulling at the seams as the neglected imprint bond threatened to do.

She was counting the days. Like an addict going through recovery might count the days that had gone by since they last used. She was barely entering her third week when she felt her body begin to burn itself from the inside.

"_Thank God you're here! She won't listen to me!" _she could hear her mother saying from downstairs, as Leah grit her teeth against the pain racking her, ignoring the sweat that covered her body.

One sniff of the air told her that Sam was near by. She could hear his heavy steps on the stairs and Leah shut her eyes tight, willing herself to at least sit up. But even that felt like mission impossible, even as she managed to raise herself enough so that she was half-propped against the wall and leaning on her elbow over the side of the bed, fighting back a wave of nausea from all the jostling.

A knock on the door was all the warning she got before Sam poked his head in. "Leah?" he asked quietly, his tone severe.

"Sam," Leah called back through gritted teeth, her eyes taking in his large form by her door as he stepped into her small, somewhat messy room and shut the door behind himself.

His eyes raked over her form then, taking in her slightly skinnier form; how her cheekbones were becoming slightly more pronounced. His dark eyes seemed to fill with sadness as he tentatively took a seat at the foot of her bed and turned his head to look at her.

"How much longer are you going to be doing this to yourself, Leah?" Sam asked in a tone that was irritated, but concerned.

"As long as it takes the bond to break," Leah replied stubbornly with just the hint of attitude. Pain never made Leah particularly gracious. If anything, it put Leah at her worst as was evident over the past year or so of her life.

"This is going to kill you," Sam stated, turning slightly so that he could pierce her better with his dark gaze, wishing his words could have any affect at all on her. Though he was worried, he was rather hoping that the tug of the imprint would win out before starvation set in, or shock took her. "The Leah I know wouldn't give up her life like this."

"I'm not giving up on my life... I'm just resisting this stupid imprint," Leah growled, but the effect was lost as she shut her eyes against a blaze of heat that scoured her insides, causing her entire body to convulse for a moment.

"Why are you doing this Leah?" Sam asked, his tone different. It was pleading. Pleading for some kind of understanding and racked with pain at seeing her like this.

Snapping her eyes open, she glared at the man seated on the end of her bed. "You have to ask? I imprinted on a leech! But more importantly, he's married! I'm NOT a home-wrecker!"

"It doesn't have to end that way. You could be his friend-"

Leah laughed, darkly, and action that caused a considerable amount of pain but which she ignored stubbornly. "You're not stupid enough to think that's even possible, Sam. Every imprint has ended the same. Trying to stay friends... it's not possible."

"Surely trying that is better than this?" Sam stated, motioning towards her form, curled tightly at the head of her bed, sweat beading all over her body. Breathing through another torrential wave of pain, Leah tried to sit up straighter, jutting her chin out stubbornly.

"Dying would be preferable to failing."

Distantly, the front door open and slammed shut.

**XxX**

The house was suffocating him. Tensions were running high, and Carlisle didn't understand how in the space of three weeks, his world could so silently and uneventfully fall to pieces around him.

The aftermath of the battle with the New Borns hung over their heads. Edward was struggling with his agreement with Bella to change her and while Alice buzzed happily around the house with Esme and Rosalie, making plans for the wedding, there was something that clouded her happiness.

To make matters worse, Edward kept giving him strange looks. Worried looks. And yet, his son never said anything.

Perhaps it was his own fault. More often than he liked... _she_ crossed his mind. Leah Clearwater. Sometimes he just wondered how her ribs had heeled, wondered if there was anything he could give her that would somehow compensate for what she did for them. Sometimes... he simply found himself wondering what she was doing, or her face inexplicably popped into his mind.

And then always came the accompanying guilt. Why did he think so often of this girl? He was married. He had no business thinking so much of a woman that was not his wife.

For her part, Esme didn't really seem to notice anything was wrong. Even the amount of time he was starting to spend at the hospital didn't seem to trouble her. But then... it was no secret to any of their children that it had been quite a few years since he and Esme had last been intimate. Which would have been extremely peculiar, as mated pairs never went more than a month without mating, it was simply impossible. But no one in the family would comment on it, not even Rose and Emmett.

He was just finishing up his rounds, jotting a few orders at the nurses station mechanically, when a scent caught his distracted mind. Hospitals had a very specific scent to them. It was overpoweringly scented of blood and disinfectant... a sterile and yet metallic scent completely at odds with each other, each warring for dominance.

This scent was familiar and yet unlike anything he'd ever smelled at work. It was the scent of wet dog and forrest, with a hint of spice that turned his sensitive nose.

Trying to hide his instinctive reaction to the scent, he looked towards the direction the odor emanated from, with a look of surprise. No one from the pack, or even La Push, ever came to Fork's General anymore. Not since he started working there. And he was surprised by the sight of the teenage boy that made his way directly towards him.

The boy, like the rest of his pack was taller and more muscular than your average teen, drawing more than a little attention. He had russet skin, dark eyes, and dark hair that was cropped short. However, in spite his frame looking more like that of an older teen or someone in their very early twenties, there was something about the boy's face that made him look like he was much younger than the other Pack members.

"Hi. Can I talk to you?" the boy rushed as soon as he stood in front of Carlisle, standing no more than three feet away from him, which was astonishingly close for a member of the pack. Carlisle didn't think that he'd ever been so close to one of them, with the exception of Leah when she was bed-ridden of course.

There was nothing threatening about the boy, in spite of the somewhat nervous shifting of his feet. However, as Carlisle slowly nodded his head, he noticed that the boy didn't seem nervous about standing near a vampire. It was something else that troubled him and he had none of the usual animosity of prejudice on his expression that the rest of the pack did.

"Of course. If you would please, follow me?" Carlisle said good-naturedly, trying to ignore the looks from the nurses as he started to lead the boy with high cheekbones to his office.

Something about the boy's face was very similar to Leah's. They seemed to have the same eyes and cheekbones. But where Leah's face was lean and ferociously beautiful, the boys face was wider and friendly.

Stepping into his office and closing the door behind himself, Carlisle stopped breathing. The enclosed space made the wolf's scent that much more stronger.

"What can I do for you...?"

"Seth," the boy offered, not seeming to be bothered at all by Carlisle's scent or the fact that he was locked in a room with a vampire. It was something that further awed and humbled Carlisle.

He was more than aware that the consensus of La Push towards his family was anything but kind. And he knew that the werewolves had truly struggled to reign in their nature during their training sessions. It had been a uneasy alliance, especially on the part of the wolves. Carlisle would have expected one of them to start vibrating in their skin to be so close to him.

"Seth Clearwater," the boy went on as an afterthought as Carlisle stopped just behind his desk.

It was amazing what hearing her last name alone did to him. It was as if the breath that he didn't even need was knocked out of him. A wider small tugged as his lips as he regarded the boy, now knowing that his suspicions about the boy being her blood-relative was concerned. _This must be her little brother, _he thought, only vaguely remembering Edward mentioning it once long before the training sessions.

"It's nice to meet you, Seth," Carlisle offered genuinely. "What can I do for you?"

"It's Leah," he stated rather bluntly and without much forethought. Carlisle felt his brows contract, overwhelming concern taking over him as he realized that the boy was in fact worried about his sister.

"Is something wrong with her?" Carlisle asked, trying to keep his panic buried underneath a calm surface.

"Yes... well... it's complicated. I just... I need you to do something for her. You see she's in a lot of pain, not the kind that pain-killers would do anything for. It's... the imprint," Seth explained in a muddled rush that Carlisle was struggling to understand, even with his vampire speed.

"I'm sorry, I really don't understand. I don't really know what Imprinting means," Carlisle stated, causing a pained expression to come over Seth's face.

"I can't tell you what it means. Leah should really be the one to explain it to you, I mean you are _her_ Imprint. But... when the Imprint is unfulfilled, it can kill the wolf. Right now, she's in a lot of pain and she's too stubborn to do anything about it. All she needs to do, is see you, or talk to you and she should be okay," Seth explained, once more his words running into each other. "Do you have a pen and paper?"

Carlisle was thrown by the sudden change of subject, which showed through on his face. However, he silently provided it for Seth who didn't say anything and merely took them, bending over the desk to write something down before placing the pen on Carlisle's desk and handing the pen over.

"Here, this is Leah's cell phone. Call her, please?" Seth said, extending the piece of paper with an agonized expression on his face as tears filled his eyes. "I don't want to lose my sister."

Carlisle felt his frozen heart shattering as he wordlessly took the paper and stared at the string of numbers. His vampire memory took one look and chiseled them in his mind forever.

"I will do what I can," Carlisle promised, looking up at the earnest boy who looked as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulder. A brilliant smile seemed to lift the corner of his lips as he flashed perfectly straight and bright white teeth.

"Thanks," the boy offered, sounding many years younger and much more care free as he walked towards the door. "Soon?" he requested.

Carlisle nodded as non-existent butterflies started fluttering in his undead stomach. And with one last smile, Seth Clearwater disappeared, the door shutting behind his bulky figure with a quite snap. For a moment, Carlisle merely stood there, feeling as if the world had been turned on it's head as his hand clutched the sheet of paper.

Falling heavily into his chair, he tried to sort out the recent events, trying to make sense of them. Only the paper in his hand and the fact that he couldn't dream, reassured him that it really happened.

Excitement, anxiety and guilt all seemed to war with each other as he stared at the paper in his hand. However, he didn't really seem to have a choice when he thought about the severity of what Seth told him.

Not that he felt like a martyr, either. He was almost giddy with anticipation as he pulled his cell phone from his lab coat pocket and had to firmly reign himself in. He should not be this happy at the prospect of speaking to Leah.

"You're just doing this for her health. You owe her this much," he told himself under his breath very firmly, even as he dialed the number at vampire speed. It was ringing in half a second.

She didn't pick it up, even though he waited until it went to voicemail. Frowning, he dialed her number again even as he became discouraged as it went to voicemail a second time. He was thinking of giving up, until he remembered what Seth said and wondered if she simply could not reach her phone. Trying one more time, he was startled when the phone stopped ringing at the fifth ring.

He could hear shuffling on the other end and had to restrain himself from crushing his phone in a too-tight grip.

"Hello?" a sultry yet breathless voice asked, sending his non-beating heart into a tailspin.

**TBC...**

**Review!**


	5. Bury It

**A/n: **Thank you to everyone who took the time to review. I'm glad that everyone is enjoying the story.

**Warning: **Just a head's up guys that I changed the rating of this fic to M. Because somehow it feels wrong to censor Leah.

**Prompt:** Magical Effect (#326)

* * *

"_I won't let you bury it,  
I won't let you smother it  
I won't let you murder it."_

_-Muse, Time is Running Out_

* * *

The phone was ringing, but it was too far away. From where she lay in bed, still curled up against the wall in her wretched attempt to sit up, Leah glared at her phone on top of her dresser.

"Why the fuck did I leave it so far away?" she muttered to herself as it continued to ring, vexing her. Really, the shrill ring of her cell would probably not have bothered her so much, if she weren't in so much pain and her skin didn't feel like it was burning at 150 degrees.

When the phone fell silent, Leah almost sighed in relief. However, it wasn't silent for long as it started ringing again and she debated whether or not the sound of her phone was annoying enough to suffer through stumbling to her feet and dragging her sorry ass three feet from the foot of her bed to the dresser.

The thought that it might be an emergency... that Seth could be hurt, was what finally spurred her to her feet.

If it was possible, more sweat sprouted on her forehead. For a moment, her vision swam as she tried to balance herself on shaky legs. Gnashing her teeth against the pain, she shut her eyes to stop the spots in her vision and took steadying breaths to fight back the nausea.

When she thought she had enough control of her faculties, she managed to drag herself the three feet to her dresser, just as she was told that she had another missed call by the screen of her phone. Leah started a string of curses under her breath as she propped her arms over her dresser, holding up her body and grabbed her phone just as it started ringing again.

Numbers flashed across her screen. She was about to curse again, that she'd gotten her ass out of bed just for some unknown number and not an emergency as she expected, when the number triggered something in her memory. Her heart sped up as she stared at the screen. She _knew_ that number. She'd stared at the small print countless times, the three different sets of ten digits engraved in her memory.

This one was _his_ cell phone number.

_Why the hell is he calling me? _She panicked as she tried to control her breathing and her now racing heart.

She was telling herself to just ignore the call, when her body rebelled against her. Her fingers flipped open her cell phone and before she could truly processed that she was longing for this, her thumb had pressed the green button, accepting the call.

Stumbling back to the foot of her bed, trying not to hyperventilate as she sat at the foot of her bed and brought the phone to her ear, Leah wondered what the hell she was doing.

"Hello?" she asked, her voice coming out breathy in her winded state. She shut her eyes, thinking she was so stupid and wondering why the hell she was so weak.

"Hello Leah," his voice was like silk and had an accent that she caught. Leah couldn't quite place it, she wanted to say it was British, but the American accent that cloaked it distorted it as well.

_Why the hell am I thinking about his accent?_ Leah wondered as she tried to take steadying breaths and hoping that she was doing so quietly. She didn't want him thinking she was some creeper that liked to breathe heavily into phones. Or that she was doing something inappropriate here on her end.

She didn't know what to say as she continued to hold the phone tightly in her hand, pressing it very hard against her ear, afraid to miss anything.

"Hi," she said stupidly in a voice that was higher in pitch than was normal for her, and rather awkwardly. Leah face-palmed as she fell back on her bed, noticing that the pain she'd been in had completely gone away. It was like magic and now that she could move and think straight again, she opened her eyes to glare at the ceiling.

She heard the sound of what might have been an amused exhalation. It wasn't quite a chuckle, but it wasn't like normal breathing either. Not that he really needed to breathe.

"Yes, I believe you already said that," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice, which made her heart twitter as she pictured it in her mind. "How are you?"

"Fine," she responded automatically, her voice still sounding high and awkward. _Now that you called, _she thought with a furrow of her brow, wondering how the agony she'd been in could dissipate so quickly at simply hearing his voice. It made the cogs of her mind start working.

"Oh. Well that's great. I heard you were feeling a little under the weather," he went on mildly, sounding surprised.

"From where?" Leah asked, wondering if he were making inquiries about her and unable to stop the hope from entering her voice.

"Your brother came to see me at the hospital," he stated, causing Leah's eyes to darken. "He said that you were feeling very sick and that you were in rather a lot of pain."

"I'm going to kill, Seth," Leah hissed, sitting up rapidly her anger rapidly replacing the happiness she'd allowed herself for a moment to feel. _So that's why he was calling. Seth went over there to beg like the little puppy that he is! _

"I'm sure that he was only concerned for you," Carlisle stated as a silence ensued. Leah wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't think of anything, in spite of the fact that this was the man she longed for now more than anything else in the world. But she didn't know anything about him. And she certainly didn't know what the hell you were supposed to talk about to a man who'd been around longer than even her parents or grandparents had been alive. What does one talk about with a vampiric doctor?

Carlisle was clearly at a loss as well as it took him several moments before he spoke again. "He mentioned that it was the Imprint that was causing you pain. Leah... if there is anything that I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

"I'm fine, doc," Leah stated, gritting her teeth, wondering if it was merely because he pitied her that he was calling. She didn't need pity. "Thanks for the concern, but really you don't have to trouble yourself," Leah all but spat as she ignored the ache in her heart and ignored the voice in her head telling her that,_ 'Of course he didn't care about her. He was only calling because Seth asked him to'_. "This has been really great, but I-" Leah started sarcastically.

"Please Leah," he said in a tone so tortured that she stopped and felt like someone had taken her lungs in their hands and squeezed and wasn't letting go, making her suffocate. "I don't want you to be in pain, because of me. If there is anything I can do to alleviate it, please let me know and let me do it."

Though his voice was silk, and his tone pleading, it carried a firm and stern undercurrent. For a second, she could see why this compassionate vamp was the head of his "family".

"Why do you care?" Leah couldn't help asking, though there was no bite in her tone. Just the incomprehension of a cynical girl whose life had been turned on its head too many times to believe in the inherent good in the world.

"I care about everyone, it's why I became a doctor. I want to help anyone I can," he responded simply, in tones so honest that she couldn't think for a second that he was being at all sanctimonious.

Leah didn't know what to say to that, she didn't know anyone in the world so willing to help a complete and utter stranger, without wanting anything in return. It made her think that this vamp was too good to be real. And definitely too good for someone like her. Someone so damaged and rotten inside.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Leah toyed with the frayed ends of her shorts, pulling on the lose strings of the jeans. She didn't know what to say to that. Running her free hand through her hair, she wondered perhaps for the millionth time, why she'd imprinted on him of all people. He wasn't even really a person! At least, not anymore.

"I..." Carlisle said, hesitating, his voice unsure and growing quiet so that Leah had to strain to hear. "I care about _you_," he admitted in a small voice, that knocked the wind out of her and sent her heart soaring.

"That's just the imprint," Leah blurted, the part of her that didn't trust in the world, much less love, wouldn't allow her to for a second to believe that he genuinely cared for her. However, she furrowed her brow. She knew how the imprint worked on the part of the wolf... she really didn't know how it affected the person imprinted on. However, there must have been some kind of strong allure they felt... some compulsion on their end. Why else had Emily found it so easy to betray her? Why else would Rachel accept the resident man-whore and veritable volcano that was Paul Lahote?

"I still don't understand what that means," Carlisle said with a sigh, a tinge of frustration coating his silken voice with it's strange, barely noticeable accent. "Everything has been so confusing. Would you _please_ explain it to me?"

She could almost feel his confusion and felt her heart clench for him. The words were all there on her tongue, ready to spill, but it didn't feel right to say it over the phone. But she couldn't deny her imprint. Somehow... a request straight from his lips was harder to resist than the initial desire she'd felt to be near him. Was harder to tolerate than the pain of resisting the imprint for so long.

"I... I will tell you, but not on the phone. It's a very... delicate subject," Leah stated, feeling her neck heat at how tentative and almost meek she sounded.

"Just tell me when and where to meet you," he said, his voice sounding warm and inviting. Friendly and yet bashful.

"You... you want to meet?" Leah asked, feeling stupid for having to ask, but unable to believe that he was willing to meet with her in person. She thought she could be on cloud nine until she suddenly remembered that he was married and that she shouldn't let her hopes and fantasies get the better of her. If this was going to happen, it was going to be strictly platonic.

"It is the logical conclusion, if you are to tell me and if it must be in person," he said, his tone sounding almost teasing to her that it sent her stomach fluttering.

"Right," Leah said, trying not to feel like an idiot even as she proceeded to ramble. "Umm... I'd rather it not be in Forks and clearly La Push is out of the question. How about... Port Angeles? Neutral territory. On High Street by the Starbucks?"

"That's fine. Would thursday at seven be alright? I realize it's late, but-"

"Seven's great!" Leah squeaked before blushing profusely and shutting her eyes. _Don't sound so pathetically desperate. _

However, if Carlisle noticed, he was too much of a gentleman to comment. "All right. I will meet you there. I have to go, I still have a shift to get through."

"OH! I'm sorry!" Leah flushed, realizing that she was taking time away from his work. And considering he was a doctor, she was sure that his time spent at work was very valuable.

"You have nothing to apologize for. After all, I called you," he reminded her gently, and she could just hear the smile in his voice, making her heart fill with warmth.

"Right," Leah choked rather lamely, trying not to sound anymore like a love-sick puppy than she already did and trying to keep from gushing anything more stupid.

"It was nice talking to you Leah. I'll see you thursday," he stated.

"Yeah. Bye..."

"Bye, Leah."

Closing her phone after hearing the click, Leah fell back in her bed, face first and shut her mouth tight. However, she couldn't contain the squeal in her throat.

"This is not a date, Leah. Don't fucking be such a girl," she growled at herself, though completely distorting her words as her face as still buried in the sheets and mattress of her bed. A groan escaped her lips as she wondered what the hell she was going to wear and knowing she was just going to agonize over it.

**TBC...**

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